New Mass Times Starting July 1

This past ten months of the unification process for our parish has been very productive!  To highlight a few milestones, we chose a new name for the parish, St John XXIII, we formed a new staff, we have our new logo, bulletin, and website, we formed the new parish pastoral council, and a new parish finance council. 

The unification subcommittees were very busy creating proposals and structures for the Parish Pastoral Council to consider as we develop a pastoral plan. In particular, the Liturgy subcommittee offered proposals for new mass times for both churches under the St John XXIII Parish.

There are four main reasons for changes in our mass times:

1. The new mass times would make scheduling the Religious Education program easier for families. By synchronizing this, families can attend masses together, an important practice for living the faith together.
2. To have fuller attendance at masses by reducing the number of masses offered.
3. Spacing out the mass times to accommodate priests and deacons who are traveling between church locations.
4. To manage the need to hire supply priests for coverage of masses.

The Pastoral Council reviewed these recommendations from the Liturgy Team and with much discussion and representation of multiple viewpoints from both St Mary and St Nicholas council members, we offered our advice and consultation to our Pastor Fr Jean-Philippe. With prayer and discernment, he made the following decision, and we as a council are in full support.

The following changes for the weekend masses are:

St Mary
Saturday 5:00pm- English
Sunday, we will have two masses:

• 8:00 am English
  
• 10:00 am- English

On the first Sunday of month: Mass at 12 pm in French
 
St Nicholas:  
Saturday:

• 5:00 pm- English

Sunday, mass times are changing to:

• 8:30 am Spanish
• 10:30 English
• 12:30 Spanish.

 
The following changes for the weekday morning masses are:
St Mary:

• Monday: 8:00 am:  Communion Service
• Tuesday- Saturday: 8:00 am: Mass 
  

All are in English
 
St Nicholas:

• Monday: 8:00 - Communion Service
• Tuesday: 8:15 – Pope John XXIII School mass during the school year
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; 8:00 am: Mass (summer months)
• Friday- Saturday: 8:00 Mass Bilingual

 
We will continue to discern about the Saturday Vigil Mass at both churches. Taking into consideration the October count, the Disciple Maker Index survey results, and other input, we will make a final decision on whether it continues to be feasible to have two vigil masses.

We thank you for your prayers for the parish, for the Pastoral Council, and most importantly for Fr Jean Philippe as we continue to build the new reality for St John XXIII Parish. The new mass times will be effective on July 1, 2023.
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We will post this announcement on our website so you will have a chance to review the mass time changes again.
 
Today we ask Saint John XXIII, pray for us. 
Thank you.